They divide themselves into three parties, using Cairo as a staging post. [AB68; BFA1:143; SBBH1:93]

See AB68–72; BFA2:9; DH61; GPB257, 259 for those included in the pilgrimage group.

Included were Mrs Hearst's nieces, a few American friends and, joining in London, Mrs Mary Thornburgh-Cropper and her mother. [SCU13. CH234-236]

See BFA1:143–4 for those included in the first group.

Among the group is Robert Turner, the first member of the black race to become a Bahá'í. For 35 years, Turner faithfully served as butler to Phoebe Apperson Hearst and Senator George Hearst, parents of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. [AB72; BBD227; BFA1:139; GPB259]

`Abdu'l-Bahá receives the pilgrims in the House of `Abdu'lláh Páshá. [BBD13, 108; DH61]

See AB68–71; BW16:104–5; CH235–6 and GPB257–9 for the pilgrims' responses to the pilgrimage.

His resting place is now next to that of Lua Getsinger in the Bahá'í cemetery in Cairo.

His numerous works include Fará'id (The Peerless Gems) 1898; The Brilliant Proof; 1912; Bahá'í Proofs, 1902; and Al-Duraru'l-Bahíyih (The Shining Pearls, published in English as Miracles and Metaphors), 1900. [BBD7]

She is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Cairo. In 1939 a court ruling enables the Bahá'ís to reinter her in the first Bahá'í cemetery established in Egypt. Her grave is now beside that of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl. [GPB344]

"riots which broke out with exceptional fury in Ismá'ílíyyih, when angry crowds surrounded the funeral cortege of Muhammad Sulaymán, a prominent Bahá'í resident of that town, creating such an uproar that the police had to intervene, and having rescued the body and brought it back to the home of the deceased, they were forced to carry it without escort, at night, to the edge of the desert and inter it in the wilderness." [GPB367-368]

The National Spiritual Assembly of Egypt had, in respect of the decision of the 10th of May, 1925 declaring the Báhá'í Faith to be non-Muslim, petitioned the government for the right to administer laws of personal status to the Bahá'í community according to its Bahá'í Laws affecting Matters of Personal Status. On the 29th of February, 1939, the Grand Muftí ruled that the Bahá'ís were not to be considered Muslims and had no right to be buried in Muslim cemeteries. Four plots of land were allocated to serve as cemeteries for the Bahá'í community in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and in Ismá'ílíyyih. Immediately following this decision the remains for Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl were transferred followed by the exhumation from a Christian cemetery in Cairo the remains of Lua Getsinger and subsequent re-interment in an adjacent plot. [GPB368-369]

The passing of Muhamman Taqí Isfahání. He had been born in Persia and was horrified by the behaviour of Mullá Huhammad Báqir (The Wolf) and Imám-Jum'íh who killed the two brothers Muhammad Hasan and Muhammad Hasan so he left for Egypt and encounter many believers on his way. He passed through Akka and met both Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'-Bahá.

His name is closely associated with the early progress of the Faith in Egypt. His house was the centre of activity and was were both Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl and Lua Getsinger spent their last days. He received 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His visit to Egypt. He was the chief member of the Publishing Committee and helped to translate many books into Arabic such as the Iqán and Some Answered Questions.

The Guardian announced his elevation to the rank of Hand of the Cause of God two days after his passing and donated a sum of money to be used for his tomb. He is buried in the Bahá'í Cemetery. [MoCxxii, BW11p500-502]

from the main catalogue

Flame, The, by William Sears and Robert Quigley (1972). Biography of Lua Moore Getsinger (1871-1916), "mother-teacher of the American Baha'i community," one of the earliest pilgrims from the West to meet 'Abdu'l-Baha. [about]